Dispatchers got some calls late Monday night about a reckless driver in a Chevy Impala heading northbound in the southbound lane of the Seven Mile Bridge who had side-swiped the bridge several times, according to a news release from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

After the driver miraculously crossed the bridge, a deputy tried to stop the car, but the driver then turned around and headed back to the bridge at speeds of 90-mph, deputies said.

As deputies and the driver approached the hump of the bridge, the Impala appeared to blow it’s engine as a large black cloud of smoke and debris enveloped the car, according to the record.

The 45-year-old driver, Dale A. Darosa of Massachusetts, then pulled over at the top of the hump, got out of the car and ignored orders to stop from the deputies. Darosa then jumped over the edge of the bridge and into the water. As he rapidly drifted towards the nearby old Seven Mile Bridge, Darosa yelled for help, the release stated.

A search involving multiple agencies found Darosa in the water about a half-mile away from the bridge. He was then airlifted to Miami to the Ryder Trauma Center for treatment, deputies said.

The man, who had been through hell and high water, allegedly 'fessed up to drinking alcohol; his son, a Marathon resident said his father had been drinking alcohol all day, the report stated.